Film Writer Agreement
(Long Form)

Summary

This template is a writer employment agreement between a writer and production company for services in connection with a motion picture. This template includes practical guidance, drafting notes, alternate clauses, and optional clauses. From the writer's viewpoint, the principal concerns of the long-form writer employment agreement are: (i) what is the writer being hired to write; (ii) how long does the writer have to write the particular work; (iii) how much will the writer be paid; and (iv) what provisions apply to the determination of the writer's credit. Since a writer's employment agreement is a form of work-for-hire agreement, the production company, as the hiring entity, will own the work product and will be the "author" for copyright purposes. Nevertheless, for the purpose of determining screen credit, the agreement may be subject to the Writers Guild of America Basic Agreement in which case, the credit determination will be governed by the procedures of the Writers Guild of America Credit Determination Manual. If the writer's employment is not under Writers Guild jurisdiction, then credit determination may be decided in accordance with a set of procedures provided by the production company in which case, the parties will want to review those procedures. For a collection of content related to motion picture production, see Motion Picture Production Resource Kit. For more information on writer employment agreements, see Motion Picture Production Agreements and Documents — Talent Agreements and Entertainment Industry Contracts P 8.01.